Teachers of English language learners (ELLs), expected to address grade-level standards and prepare ELLs for standardized assessments, have the difficult task of designing instruction that meets the range of needs in their classrooms. When these learners have experienced limited or interrupted education, the challenges intensify. Whereas…

Students learn or progress at their own paces. Each needs different amounts of support, at different points in a school career and at different times of the school year. Some need very little help to stay on track, while others are facing serious challenges in learning, in their behavior, or at home, and need significant interventions. It would…

The purpose of this reflective article is to present an alternative that incorporates the four language skills in all content areas through technology-based dual-language centers for emergent bilinguals at the elementary level. The authors propose a matrix to plan the centers and include three examples to facilitate language transfer in English…

Many students with reading difficulties in grades 4 through 12 experience challenges in understanding and learning from text. Some of these learners have demonstrated reading challenges from the early grades and have not acquired successful reading skills. Others were adequate readers in the early grades when word reading was the focus and when…

This article offers an overview of how the Language Flagship Program integrates languages for specific purposes (LSP) components into its broader mission of having students graduate with Superior Level linguistic proficiency and cultural competence, thus being well equipped to function as global professionals in the major of their choice. Turning…

Developing and implementing curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory is central to successful middle grades education (Erb, 2005; Jackson & Davis, 2000; National Middle School Association [NMSA], 2003, 2010). However, as one language arts teacher suggests, it can be difficult to create curricula that meet these…

This article discusses how to promote oral language development through science. The authors describe how they incorporate academic "talk strategies" into science lessons in a nonintrusive and meaningful manner. These talk strategies are adapted from the "Avenues" (2007) curriculum for English learners (ELs), which gives examples of cooperative…

Describes a secondary reading program which uses historical fiction to enrich social studies courses. A bibliography of the fiction used is included. (RM)

This paper describes a research and development center's project to design procedures for helping students both to develop and to apply effective behaviors for understanding text. The project's developmental efforts are summarized and promising directions for future work are examined. Specifically, the paper (1) clarifies the goals of the project,…

Describes an instructional development team approach designed to make secondary reading programs more effective. (Author/JM)

Intended for educators involved in developing secondary school reading programs, this paper describes a carefully balanced program implemented in the Wisconsin public school system for grades 7 through 12. Following a brief introduction to and rationale for the concept of a reading program that balances instruction in reading for skill…

The minimum competency goal that now dominates college basic skills instruction is not adequate to prepare the student for success in and beyond college. More can be accomplished within basic skills courses than the mere acquisition of literal information from a reading selection. The use of thematic unity can impose meaningful organization on the…

Describes the experience of Catholic schools with National Diffusion Network programs: Early Prevention of School Failure; Project READ:S, which trains teachers in all disciplines to reinforce reading skills; BASIC: Primary Education Program, which provides diagnostic testing and hands-on activities for kindergarten children; and Pegasus Pace.…

Describes and evaluates a reading/study skills program at Ferndale High School, Ferndale, Washington. Notes that the high school has changed dramatically over the four years of the program, and its reading/study skills program continues to be an integral part of this evolution. (RS)

Noting the increasing recognition being given to the importance of content area reading, this paper describes an inservice education program designed for content area secondary school teachers in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, school system as a possible model for other school districts to adopt. The first section of the paper describes the program,…